


Eleventh Day of Christmas

by mightbeababygay



Series: 12 Days of Ballum-mas [8]
Category: EastEnders (TV)
Genre: Board Games, Canon Divergence, Christmas, Established Relationship, Fluff fluff and more fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-21
Updated: 2019-12-21
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:55:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21886294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mightbeababygay/pseuds/mightbeababygay
Summary: It's Christmas which means there has to be at least one board game played. Luckily, Callum's decided to reinvent the wheel for an interesting game of Scrabble.
Relationships: Callum "Halfway" Highway/Ben Mitchell
Series: 12 Days of Ballum-mas [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1559044
Comments: 9
Kudos: 70





	Eleventh Day of Christmas

**Author's Note:**

> here's some fluff to get you through the heartbreak of last night's ep
> 
> Tumblr/Twitter @mightbeababygay

“Where’s Lex?” Callum asked as he clambered down the stairs, arms full of board games Ben had made him bring over from his flat - ready for their board game night.

He wouldn’t lie, he was very apprehensive about this. While he loved board games, and Ben, he was concerned that Ben’s competitive nature was going to mean this night ended in a complete disaster. 

“Lola dragged her to the movies. Something about Frozen.” Ben shrugged, pulling the cork from the wine bottle. “So it’s just you and me.”

“We drink wine now? Very sophisticated.” Callum couldn’t help but comment, placing the stack of board games at the end of the Beale’s dining table. 

“Thought it would make a nice change. I found a Christmas playlist online as well, we can have that on in the background if you’d like.” Ben smiled, handing Callum a glass of red wine. 

“Bit romantic, ain’t ya?” Callum took the glass from Ben, placing it down on the table (on the coaster - he didn’t need another telling off from Ian) as he looked around the room - the lights dimmed down showcasing the tree lights perfectly.

“It’s only board games and music.” Laughed Ben, pressing a fleeting kiss to Callum’s cheek. “Did you choose a game?”

“I did. But it’s gonna seem tacky now you’ve set all this up.” Callum confessed as he sat himself down on a wooden chair, Ben taking the one opposite him.

“What did you have in mind?” Ben raised his eyebrows, leaning forward in his chair with interest.

“I thought I’d have to convince you to even play with me.” Callum gave Ben a sheepish smile. “And then when you seemed so excited, I had an idea. And now that Lex is with Lola and Jay, this might be a fun time to give it a go.”

“Well, colour me intrigued.” Ben smirked over the rim of his wine glass. “Do share with the rest of the class then, lover boy.”

“Strip Scrabble.” Callum announced with a light blush. “It’s tacky, I know. Forget I said anything. I just thought-, it’s right up your street, ain’t it? Didn’t think you’d do all this for me.”

“Did you just call me tacky?” Ben squinted across the table at his boyfriend. 

“No, of course not! That ain’t what I meant.”

“Callum, babe. I’m messing with you.” He couldn’t help but laugh, taking Callum’s hands across the table. “I was about to ask you what the winner’s prize would be. But then you came up with Strip Scrabble and everything’s making a little more sense. Winner gets to see the other naked. And who wouldn’t want that?”

“That a yes, then?” Callum grinned, pulling the Scrabble box towards the two of them. 

“Ain't exactly a hardship watching you get naked, is it?” Ben smirked, helping Callum set the board up. 

“Who says it’s going to be me? Could be you.” He raised his eyebrows at Ben, picking out his first set of letters from the bag. 

“Well, I ain't losing.” 

“What makes you think I am?” 

“Because someone's got to.” Giving Callum a cheeky grin, Ben took his letters and placed them neatly on his stand. “How's this work, then?”

“You mean you ain’t played it before?” 

“Can’t all be as knowledgeable as you, can we babe?” Sipping from his wine glass, lips tainted red, Ben winked over at his boyfriend. 

“All the more reason why I’m gonna win.” Callum hummed, curling his foot around Ben’s. “It’s pretty straightforward. Each round, the person with the lowest points takes off an item of clothing.”

“And how many layers you got on?” Ben squinted over at his boyfriend, accusingly.

“What?” Was the response, Callum clearly not expecting that to be the follow up question.

“Under your jumper.” Ben clarified. “This game was your idea - if it was me, I’d have put as many layers on as I could. So how many layers you got on?”

Pulling the jumper away from from his body by the collar, Callum peered down to count the layers of clothing he actually did have on. “Just this and a t-shirt. You?”

“Just my shirt.” Ben pursed his lips in thought before standing, the wooden chair screeching against the floor making Callum tutt at him. “I’ll be back.” He muttered out before dashing up the stairs.

Going over to his wardrobe, Ben grinned to himself as he pulled out the stash of jumpers (of Callum’s) he’d been stealing over the last few months. Taking his favourite from the pile - a dark, navy one with some Star Wars joke Ben was never gonna get, he pulled it on over his head, letting it engulf him. 

Initially, he’d done it because they smelt like Callum and they helped, the nights alone with Callum across The Square. But now, the smell had faded. He continued to wear them - for what it represented. 

The idea that this was Callum’s, that he could have it. Have Callum. When there was so much bad in this world, bad that he drew upon himself like a moth to a flame, to know that the good that was Callum, was something he could have. Someone he was allowed.

And if he’d ruined the jumper, the print across the front fading and the additional holes and stains...well, Ben could only hope that wasn’t foreshadowing for what was to come, for what he was doing to Callum.

Ruining him.

\--

“You took your time, didn't ya?” Callum smiled as he watched Ben step down the last of the stairs in his jumper. “Was about to send a search party out.”

“Between your mess and the amount of presents we’ve got Lexi, I’m surprised we can even find the bed in that room.” Ben perched himself back in his seat. “You ain’t been cheatin’ have you?”

“What do you take me for?” Callum tutted, pulling his own set of letters closer to him. “I ain’t a cheat.”

“Well, you’ve got form.” Ben raised his palms up. “But that was with me. So, who could blame ya?” He winked.

“That’s not true.” Huffed Callum in response, light blush on his cheeks contrasting with the words he spoke. 

“No? What do you call our little rendezvous in the park then?” Sniffing, Ben focused back on his letters, eyebrows furrowed in concentration as he sorted them.

“It’s your go.” Callum diverted the conversation back to the game at hand. “Youngest first.”

Pursing his lips as he stared harder at the tiles in front of him, hoping for some kind of inspiration before letting out a sigh and placing his letters down slowly onto the board. 

“‘Feet’? That’s the best you can come up with?” Callum teased, pausing the conversation for a second as he added up Ben’s total. 

“Let’s see what you’ve got then.” Ben rolled his eyes, kicking Callum lightly under the table for the comment. 

“Feast.” Callum announced proudly, placing the letters down; attached to Ben’s. “And a double letter - which means I win.” He leaned back in his chair with a smirk, snatching the wine glass off the table. 

“The first round.” Ben added on as a warning, huffing a breath through his nose as he leaned down to pull his socks off. “Happy?”

“Very.” Callum grinned, fingers tapping against the glass to the tune of the Christmas song playing softly in the background. “Now your toes are free, hopefully you can think up a better word.”

“Doubtful.” Ben snorted as he sorted through his new letters. “Feels like I’ve been set up to loose.”

“How would I even do that?” chuckled Callum, placing his glass down; lips tinted red from the wine. “It’s just Scrabble. You can’t even cheat!”

“You probably read a dictionary last night, I don’t know!” Ben retorted, balling up his socks to throw at Callum. 

“Oi!” Callum laughed, picking the socks up to throw back. “What have I said about you and your disgusting feet comin’ near me?”

“They’re just socks!”

“And they still stink! How do you even smell that bad, honestly?” Callum shook his head, nose turned up in disgust. 

“It ain’t up to me, is it? Blake my dad.” Ben grumbled as he placed a new word down, making sure it covered the triple letter. “Might as well take your clothes off now.” He smirked triumphantly.

“Oh that’s gross, I do not need to be thinking about your dad’s toes.” Callum pressed his fingers to his lips in disgust while Ben cackled on the other side of the table. 

“They ain’t that bad. They’ve got nothing on Stuart’s, I promise you.”

“When...why are you looking at my brother’s toes?” Callum exclaimed, pulling off his jumper as he (inevitability) lost that round.

“Just making sure I’ve picked the right Highway brother, ain’t I?” Ben grinned, fully focused on watching Callum take off his jumper, eyes dropping down to the small slither of skin exposed as his t-shirt rose up.

“And the toes, they tell you that, do they?” Callum asked once he’d taken his seat once more, jumper folded neatly over the back.

“Ain’t you heard, the toes are path to the soul.” Ben wiggled his fingers in the air mysteriously.

“That’s-, how many glasses of wine have you had?” 

“Just the one.” Ben promised with a giggle, fiddling with his letter tiles. “I know what you’re doing - trying to distract me. It ain’t gonna work.” He pointed a warning finger over at his boyfriend. 

“If I wanted to distract you, I wouldn't be talking about toes.” Callum promised with a wiggle of the eyebrows. 

“Oh yeah?” Ben sucked his bottom lip into his mouth as he dragged his eyes over Callum appreciatively. “What would you be doin’ then?”

“Probably giving you those Vanilla Muffins that I baked yesterday.” Callum smirked, placing his letters down onto the board. “You seemed pretty into them.”

“Muffins, of course.” Ben huffed, taking a mouthful of wine. 

“You have something else in mind?” Callum feigned innocence, blinking over at Ben. 

“No, no. Definitely not.” grinned Ben, placing his next word down after he’d pulled off his (Callum’s) jumper - another round lost.

“You sure? You seemed pretty bummed out.” Callum pushed, teeth sinking into his bottom lip as he watched Ben.

“Nah,” Ben chuckled, ruffling his hair back into place. “Just preferred the chocolate ones, didn’t I?”

“Chocolate what?” Callum blinked himself back in the room, looking over at Ben with perplexition. 

“...Muffins?” Ben laughed. “The hell did you think I meant?”

“No, of course.” Callum nodded his head, cheeks burning the same colour as the wine. “I was just-, momentarily distracted.” He waved his hand in Ben’s direction. 

“Oh yeah?” Ben leaned back in his chair, pleased grin wide on his face for anyone to see. “My fault, I guess?”

“Who else?” 

—

“What the bloody hell?” Ian raised his eyebrows, entire face turning red as he took in the scene in front of him. “Ben, I...why are you naked at my kitchen table?!”

“First off, I ain’t naked.” Ben smirked, not caring that his brother had just walked in on the pair of them, both in their underwear, at the kitchen table, bottle of wine dried up and empty. “Secondly, Strip Scrabble. Which I’m about to win. If I’d known you wanted to play, we’d have waited for you.” He gave Ian a wide grin, head tilted to the side as he wound him up.

“Strip…” Ian started before shaking his head, the brothers ignoring Callum who was hastily pulling his layers of clothes back on. “You know what, I don’t wanna know. Just...put your clothes back on, please.”

“Yes mother.” Ben mocked with a snort, pulling the jumper of Callum’s head stole from the bottom of the pile of clothes he’d taken it off. “What are you doing back earlier anyway?” 

“It’s one am, Ben.” Ian gave him a funny look, which, to be fair, was granted. He’d not realised how long him and Callum had been sat playing - arguing - over the game of scrabble. Not that he’s minded, he’d happily sit there for another three hours. 

Especially if a naked Callum was his prize at the end of it.

“I guess it’s a draw, then.” He poured over at his boyfriend, who was now fully dressed, shirt buttoned incorrectly. “Round two?”

“Um,” Callum stuttered, eyes flicking over to Ian who was staring at his phone and cursing. “Maybe another time, yeah?”

Raising his eyebrows, Ben gave a slight nod of the head. “Alright.” He agreed, scooping up the letters to put away. “You okay?” Ben asked quietly once Ian had wandered off upstairs. 

“Besides your brother seeing us naked? Yeah.” Callum helped Ben pack away, adding the scrabble box back on the pile of board games he’d brought down earlier. 

“We ain’t naked.” Ben repeated for the second time that night with a huff. “An’ he’s seen a lot worse than your gorgeous body.”

Unable to stop the grin on his face from spreading, Callum looked down at his feet bashfully at the compliment. “Doesn’t mean it ain’t weird.”

Stepping around the table, Ben wrapped his arms around Callum’s waist, head resting on his chest. “Bed?” He offered. “That wine’s gone to my head; made me all sleepy.”

“Yeah.” Callum agreed, cupping the back of Ben’s head to give him a light kiss. “Let me just clear up down here.”

“You ain’t housekeeping.” Ben rolled his eyes, detaching himself from Callum. 

“I know, it’s just polite, ain’t it?” Callum collected their used glasses from the table. “You go on up, I won’t be more than five minutes.”

“You better not be.” Ben warned with a tap of the forefinger on Callum’s nose before he dragged himself sleepily up the stairs.

Smiling softly as he watched Ben leave, Callum fought back his own yawn. He took the wine glasses to the kitchen, rinsing them before putting them in the dishwasher for the morning and placing the empty bottle in the bin. 

He made sure the doors were locked and the lights turned out, silence filling the usually busy, hustle and bustle of the household. Callum wasn’t entirely sure where Kathy was, but he wouldn’t be surprised if Ben had brought her some kind of spa treat before Christmas. 

Grabbing the pile of Ben’s clothes he’d left behind, Callum flicked his eyes across the room, making sure there wasn’t anything left before climbing up the stairs, limbs heavy from the effect of the wine. 

“You took your time.” Ben smiled, voice hushed as he sat on the bed, contacts replaced with glasses and still in Callum’s jumper. 

“Just locking the doors.” Callum explained, shutting the door behind him with a quiet snick. “You sleepin’ in that thing?”

“The jumper? Of course.” Ben responded, placing his phone on charge so he could focus on Callum as he stripped off his clothes once more. 

“I thought you hated it?”

“I do - on you. It’s baggy and just downright ugly. Who even gets the joke on it?” Ben pulled the aforementioned piece of clothing away from his body to look down at it. 

“I do. Basically-,”

“Babe.” Ben interrupted before Callum started explaining Star Wars to him once more. “There’s only enough room in my brain for one Star-related movies. And since you made me watch Star Trek already…”

“That’s only because I thought you’d seen Star Wars already.” Callum huffed, sliding into the bed next to Ben and curling around his body - their natural sleeping position with Callum curled around Ben’s back, legs tangled and the tiniest of spaces between their front and back. 

“Why would you even think that?” Ben screwed his nose up, taking his glasses off and folding them onto the side, flicking off the night lamp.

“Because everyone’s seen it.” Callum responded from where his face was already pressed against his neck. 

“I ain’t.”

“Well you’re just weird, ain’t ya?” Pressing a kiss to the warm skin of Ben’s neck, Callum took his hand in his own, tangling their fingers together. 

“That’s why you love me.” Ben nuzzled back against Callum. 

“I do.” Callum hummed. “Night, baby.” He whispered into Ben’s ear, the shorter man repeating the greetings before sleep overtook them.

**Author's Note:**

> Next one (the last one :( ) is up either 23rd or 24th I haven't decided yet featuring Christmas Day!!


End file.
